Chocolate + Coconut Brioche Rolls

Chocolate + coconut brioche rolls are delicious fluffy little mounds of goodness, and very similar to pain au chocolat—but without all the work of making croissants.

So, um, I may have a problem.

That is, I have a problem if being addicted to fresh bread is a problem. Any bread, all bread, if it’s warm right out of the oven I want to eat it. Preferably with lots of butter, but that isn’t totally necessary.

For instance, if the bread has lots of butter in it already I can live without slathering more on top. (For the most part.) Like, if that bread is brioche I don’t HAVE to have extra butter.

With the eggs and butter baked right in, brioche is rich enough already. Especially when it’s filled with chocolate and coconut.

Yes, CHOCOLATE and COCONUT! These cuties are jam-packed with all the good stuff in life. And they’re no more difficult or time-consuming to make than any other yeast bread or roll. The one tricksy thing is that this dough is fairly wet, making shaping a challenge—if, that is, you don’t spray your hands with a little cooking spray. Trust me, this is an immense help.

So we have here a soft and fluffy bread, fortified with butter and eggs, stuffed with chocolate and coconut, and I haven’t even gotten to my favorite part yet.

My FAVORITE part is the top of the brioche rolls, which is sprinkled with turbinado sugar before baking. You get this gorgeous crunchy texture from the coarse sugar and that little extra bit of sugar is the perfect match for the semi-sweet chocolate. (You can sub granulated sugar for the turbinado sugar and you’ll still have some crunch on top.)

You guys, I pulled the tops off of two rolls during my photo sesh. It wasn’t pretty. My camera is now covered in chocolate-y fingerprints. But I know that if my camera could eat chocolate + coconut brioche rolls, all would be understood.

So don’t get me wrong. While butter wouldn’t hurt these gorgeous little rolls any, you don’t NEED the butter. And I think technically you can eat extra bread since you’re skipping the additional fat. But don’t quote me on that. I could be wrong.

A few notes: as I said above, the dough is very wet and can be a challenge to work with. Spray your hands with cooking spray and work on a floured work surface; avoid the temptation to add extra flour.

These rolls end up kind of, erhhm, large. If you wanted to make them a less generous size that would be totally fine. Just adjust your baking time as necessary. (And maybe eat two to make up for the fact that your roll wasn’t as big as the one two I ate.)

Chocolate + coconut brioche rolls are like pain au chocolat without all the work of making croissants!

Course:
Breakfast

Cuisine:
French

Keyword:
brioche, chocolate

Servings: 12

Author: Kelsie

Ingredients

Brioche dough:

1/2cuplukewarm water

5teaspoonsinstant yeast

1cupwhole milklukewarm

2/3cupgranulated sugar

1 1/4teaspoonssalt

1egg

2egg yolks

1/2cupunsalted butterat room temperature

2teaspoonsvanilla extract

1teaspoonground cinnamon

2cupsall-purpose flour

2 to 3 1/2cupsbread flour

Filling:

5ouncessemisweet chocolatecoarsely chopped

1/3cupsweetened flaked coconut

3tablespoonsgranulated sugar

Glaze:

1eggbeaten with a pinch of granulated sugar

turbinado sugar for sprinklingcan substitute granulated sugar

Instructions

Brioche dough:

Whisk the water and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes, until foamy. Whisk in the milk, followed by the sugar, salt, egg, egg yolks, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir to combine, then stir in the all-purpose flour and 2 cups of the bread flour. Knead, with the mixer set to its lowest speed, for 8 to 10 minutes, gradually adding additional bread flour as needed to form a soft but firm dough.

Lightly spray a large mixing bowl with cooking spray and place dough inside. (Dough will be pretty wet.) Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes, until almost doubled in bulk.

Gently deflate the dough by pressing lightly with your palm. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into 12 equal portions. (I use a scale to do this but you can eyeball it if you prefer. If dough is too sticky to work with spray your hands with a little cooking spray.) Let the portioned-out dough rise for 10 minutes.

Filling:

While dough is rising line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. , Combine all filling ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Roll each portion of dough into an oval about 1/2 an inch thick. Divide filling evenly among the ovals, placing the filling in the middle of the oval. Fold up the ends, then the sides, of each oval, forming a cylinder. Pinch the seams to seal tightly. Place on prepared baking sheets and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until puffy, 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slit the top of each roll several times, then brush lightly with the egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack, then serve and enjoy.

Related

Comments

Lol, maybe we should start a support group, because I’m preeeeetty obsessed with all things homemade bread related too. I mean, while it’s baking it just makes your house smell all sorts of amazing. And then there is the taste of fresh bread. SO freggin’ good, right?! These brioche rolls look absolutely delish, girlfriend! Sign me up for a dozen. 😉 Cheers!

Yes please. A 12-step program or something is definitely necessary in my life :). Right? How does anyone resist tearing into fresh bread right out of the oven. I’m convinced that bread-baking smell puts me into some kind of trance where the only way out is to eat massive amounts with tons of butter. Thank you, Cheyanne!

Oh, I can see myself becoming addicted to these bad boys! I love a good brioche-style dough, and baking fresh bread is seriously one of my favorite things of all time. The coconut addition to the chocolate here is nothing short of genius. I bet these taste like a Mounds bar…but way better! Also, I can personally verify that cameras do enjoy sweet treats.

Mine too! Nothing is quite as therapeutic as baking bread. Yep, they’re reminiscent of a Mounds bar but with warm bread wrapped around it. Could anything be better? I’m glad to know cameras are appreciative of sweets. . .mine gets its fill :).

I love the bread support group idea! I’d join in a heartbeat 🙂 I can’t get enough homemade bread in my life. These remind me of the croissants filled with chocolate that my French teacher used to bring us…YUM!

We need to organize the whole support group thing. I’d be down to host! These are really similar to chocolate croissants, just a little less time consuming. No less delish though. Thank you Lindsay! Have a great weekend 🙂

Prestige is probably the right word for the chocolate-coconut combo! Thank you Denise! PS, I’m jealous that Brazil is your home country. Brazilian Portuguese is the most beautiful language I’ve ever heard!

I didn’t realize that coconut and chocolate had it’s own name in Brazil! Thanks for the info, Denise, I like that word, “prestigio”. 🙂 . Also, Kelsie, I’m here cause the rolls look insane and I’m also planning to make brioche very soon, because there is always room for sweet buttery bread in one’s life. It’s always worth the work! And the sticky camera… #^^#

Fresh bread is srsly THE most inviting food! My mom used to bake all sorts of breads and pastries when I was a kid – there’s just nothing like a fresh-out-of-the-oven roll. Definitely digging the chocolate + coconut stuffing action!

Kelsie, I think that I will take the extra butter:) A warm chocolate stuffed brioche with a touch of extra butter is heavenly. Just to make myself feel better I might go to the gym first and drink a bottle of plain kefir, then dig in:)

So I have a serious addiction to chocolate croissants. I finally got over my addiction about a year ago but you might just pull me back into it with these Chocolate + coconut Brioche Rolls 🙂 Omg I’m tempted me make this recipe today!!! The sprinkles of turbinado is my favorite part also 🙂

I have the same problem you do — I have no self control around freshly baked bread! Which is why when I saw this post my mouth started watering. Brioche is rich enough to avoid butter or spreads, but filling it with chocolate and coconut (my two faves!) was a fabulous idea. Now will you please send me some? 🙂

Um. I don’t see any problem. These look like heaven, not like a problem… until they are gone. Then we have a problem. If it really worries you, then you can just start sending me the extras after your do the obligatory taste test 😉

About

Hey there! I’m Kelsie and this is where I share my buttery, sugary, and all-around delicious recipes. I LOVE to bake and I want you to love baking too, so all of my recipes are totally do-able for the home baker. If you need a little dessert in your life, consider this your one-stop shop for anything sweet! Need a little more info? Here you go!